Rattan forming press



Dec. 14, 1954 Filed Aug. 14, 1952 w. D. JOHNSTON RATTAN FORMING PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. W/ L L MM 0. JOHNSTON ATTORNEY Dec. 14, 1954 w. D. JOHNSTON RATTAN FORMING PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 14, 1952 INVENTOR. WILL 7/1/14 0. JOHNSTON ATTORNEY Dec.'14, 1954 w. D. JOHNSTON RATTAN FORMING PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 14, 1952 I INVENTOR.

WILL/AM 0. JOHNSTON A TTORNE) United States Pate inventionrelatesrtorattan forming presses, particularlyfasradapted forthebending of steamed bars of .Iattan iniithe makingof parts for tables, desks, chairs, stools,-;.pedestals,lounges- .and other articles of house- .hold furniture;- andits objects; are to dispense with the shighlyaskilled -manual labor usually required for the .--.bendi1 1g. of thebars, and more efficiently and expeditious- -.ly1,to accomplish said bending by less skilled labor .thrqugh ,the. exer cise. of novel mechanical means; to .secure greateruniformity in eachtype of furnitureand in.-;the,finish or appearance thereof; to eliminate impairment or damageofthe bars while being bent into required form and secured therein; to employ greater power .in 'thezbendingof:the harszthan has heretofore been possiblethrough, the strengthofthe workman; to render the parts access-ible for inspection, adjustment, removal, replacement and repair; and in general to-pror-vide a, novel bending apparatus which is simple and s-leconomical of construction, saving of labor, efficient in vactiongand of long life and durability. These and other robjects will appear from the drawing and as hereinafter 'gmore partic'ularly pointed out and .set forth.

wRa ttanas employed in the manufacture of furniture .--is;:made from one of the strongest materials in the world, ;-and unlike qbamboo, commonly used' for this purpose,

is solid clear through. Commerically such rattan is sup plied to the trade-in the form'of elongated bars or rods,

circular in cross section, and carefully aged and seasoned. To; shape these bars they mustwfirstbe. steamed; ;and,-then it is the usual practice of the workman to wrap the bar over or around a former and through sheer physical strength to bend and curve the bar into the form desired, and thereafter to fasten the joints or ends of the bar in position by means of screws passing through such bar or adjacent parts. Great skill and strength and the expenditure of much time and effort on the part of the workman are required to secure uniform and satisfactory results, and great care has to be exercised to guard against scarring, breakage or damaging of the bar at the bows or turns formed at the bends of the material. With my improved bending apparatus, however, no such skill in bending the bars of rattan to the desired form is required, and complete uniformity without impairment may be secured mechanically by the unskilled workman with nominal instruction, and in less time than is now required in the manual bending of the bars.

My invention primarily consists in a table or support upon which is disposed a novel arrangement of fixed and sliding formers and clamps positioned and adapted to receive, bend, guide and shape a bar of rattan in the formation of a furniture part, said sliding formers being actuated and controlled by hydraulic cylinder and piston means.

My invention further consists of novel features of construction, and of novel combinations and arrangements of elements and parts, illustrated in the drawing, and as more specifically hereinafter described and claimed.

Attention is hereby directed to the drawing, showing a preferred form of my invention, in which similar numerals of designation refer to similar parts throughout the several views, and in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an apparatus embodying said form of the invention, showing a work table with movable bending formers and a fixed shaping former mounted thereon, a hydraulic ram which rests upon an extension of said table and the piston of which vis;connected,to slide the connected; movableeyformers thereon,.,and, :securedtothe under part offlthe .table, a

conventional ,hydraulicpumping systemfor. supplying tfluid tojthe cylinder oftheram;

. Fig. 2 is atplan viewv of; the apparatusshowniin Fig. 1,

.110oking,in the direction of ,the ,arrows 2.2, and showing the location of the parts at the beginning and middle of the bending operation, thev shape of the movable formers andshapeof .thefixed former, thejtracks .for thev running ,of-said movable formers, and more particularly the hydraulic vram and. connections, forthe operation thereof;

Fig. 3 .is a plan view similar. to that shownin Fig.

I 2, the position of the movable formers being shown at theend of the stroke ofthe piston and in closed contact with the fixedformer, and the bending of the rattan bar having been fully accomplished, and

Fig. 4 is. a diagrammatic view of the hydraulic ram assembly, showing the connections ofthe said ram and pump. system involved in the operation of my apparatus.

Referring to the drawing, the table5 is a conventional form .of worktable, having the flat rectangular top 6, andthelegs 7, and being provided with the leaf extension. 8 supported by the braces 9, extending from the.under side of said leaf to the said legs. Upon the planar face of said-table top, I firmly affix the. sets of tracks110,.11,, 12 and 13, extending longitudinally of saidltable and each in parallel spaced relation With the others. Preferably each set of track is composed of .two.rails in .close separated parallelrelation, and form- .)ing .between themuan inverted Vashaped passageway .capable of making sliding non-releasable contact with dove-tail .shapedcleats or other well-known form of attachment secured to and downwardly projecting from the undersides ofthe movable formers about-.to be'described.

Firmly mounted upon the. end.:portion of the table top farthest away from the extension 8, .is the fixed .former14, having the arcuate molding faces 14a and 14b confronting, andvspaced from, the adjacent ends of the said tracks;.the said faces ,being shaped to conformlo movable formers 15, .and 16, :the aforesaid '.cleats..of which, protruding downwardly, are in sliding engagement with the rails of said tracks. As shown, the former 15 is the primary former provided with the arcuate molding face 15a shaped to receive and bend the middle portion of the bar of rattan 26 when placed therein, and the former 16 is the central or floating former positioned to move independently between the formers 14 and 15 and to engage and cooperate therewith in the bending of the said bar; the former 16 having the arcuate molding face 16a conforming with the face 15a of the former 15, and having the two arcuate molding faces 16b and conforming to the faces 14a and 14b respectively of the fixed former 14.

Mounted upon the extension leaf 8 is the hydraulic ram 17, the piston of which is disposed to reciprocate in the same direction as the said tracks and to conform to the movement thereon of the said formers 15 and 16. Preferably, I construct the said piston in two parts 18 and 19, connected by the hinged or universal joint 20; the part 18 being connected directly with the cylinder of said ram, and the part 19 constituting an extension thereof for the purpose hereinafter to be described. Firmly affixed to the front face 15b of the primary former 15 is the bracket 21 having the square shaped contact block 21a, to the sides of which are secured the heavy side strips 21b and 210; the said block being located in line of extension of said piston and positioned to allow impact engagement therewith of either the joint 20 or the head 19a of the piston part 19. To operate the said ram, I employ the usual motor 22, pump 23, fluid tank 29, the customary hose or conduit connections, and conventional controls.

In the drawing, I have shown my invention as incorporated in an apparatus especially adapted to the bending and shaping of the bar of rattan to form the arm of a chair or sofa; but, as is obvious, the shape and number formers. chairs or sofas, this operation may be repeated. Also 3 of the formers could be varied to conform to the bending and shaping of the particular part of furniture required without departing from the spirit or purpose of my invention.

1n the operation of the form of apparatus illustrated in the drawing, the primary sliding former 15 is slid rearwardly upon the tracks to the position indicated in dashed lines in rigs. l and 2, and the floating sliding former 16 1S moved upon said tracks to a central position as shown about midway between the formers l5 and 14; removable struts 24 and 25 being interposed between the c'onfronting faces of the formers 16 and 14, respectively, and serving to hold these formers rigidly apart. Thereupon, a steamed rattan bar 26 is placed by the workman upon and extending across the table top within the space between the former and the former 16, and the said bar is moved rearwardly to contact the forwardly extending ends of the former 15. Then the ram 17 is actuated to move forward the elbow of the hinge 20 of the piston and to engage the contact block 21a, and thereby forcibly to thrust the former 15 to slide upon its tracks toward the former 16, and with great pressure to compress the middle portion of the rattan bar between the confronting and conforming faces of these formers, and to bend said bar into the bowshape shown. Thereafter, the struts 24 and 25 are removed, and the ends of the bar 26 are respectively brought into engagement with the faces 14a and 14b of the fixed former 14. The piston of the ram is then retracted, and the part 19 turned upon its hinge to be in longitudinal linear extension with the part 18, and the head 19a caused to engage with the block 21a. Thereupon, the formers 15 and 16 are secured together by the clamps 27 and 28, and the ram 17 is again actuated forcibly to cause the said formers, clamped as aforesaid with the said rattan bar therebetween, to slide upon the said tracks toward the former 14, and with great pressure to compress the end portions of the said bar between the confronting and conforming faces of these formers, and to bend the said end portions into the shapes shown in Fig. 3. Such bending having been accomplished, the ends contacting with the body of the bar are firmly secured thereto by screws or other well known fastening means, and the completed article is removed from the To bend other rattan bars to form the arms of through the provision of other sliding and fixed formers of the required shape and arranged to be operated by a hydraulic ram, various other parts of furniture may be pressed and bent into the form desired.

My invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment, as above set forth is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of my invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which may come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a rattan forming press, the combination of a rectangular table; tracks extending longitudinally thereof and iirmly secured thereon; three formers mounted upon said table in aligned sequential order and adapted to bend and shape therebetween an elongated bar of rattan; one of said formers being rigidly affixed to the top of the table near one end of the tracks thereof, one of said formers being the primary former running upon said tracks, and the remaining former being the intermediate floating former also running upon said tracks and located between the other formers; and connected with said table and aligned with said formers, a hydraulic cylinder having a piston hinged in two parts, the two parts of which when in alignment, and the elbow thereof when said parts are out of alignment, are so adjusted as cooperatively to engage with the said primary former and forcibly to slide the same upon said tracks in the direction of and against the floating former in said aligned sequential order to impact the fixed former and thereby to bend and shape said bar of rattan introduced therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 324,198 Wattie Aug. 11, 1885 380,107 Hall Mar. 27, 1888 482,782 Burkhardt Sept. 20, 1892 510,103 Thomas et al Dec. 5, 1893 977,804 Knilans Dec. 6, 1910 1,548,026 Dietz et al Aug. 4, 1925 1,775,762 Harvey Sept. 16, 1930 2,025,451 Hirschfield Dec. 24, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 667,204 Great Britain Feb. 27, 1952 

